


Baby Just Say Yes

by ImJaebabie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Miscommunication, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, thank u urbanlike for inspiring this by giving jaemjen an engagement shoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 07:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJaebabie/pseuds/ImJaebabie
Summary: Jaemin and Jeno spend their engagement photo shoot reminiscing on what it took to get them there.





	Baby Just Say Yes

**Author's Note:**

> me: im gonna write a nomin proposal drabble uwu  
> me, nearly 7k words later: heck

Jaemin feels serene, like a clear sky on a cloudless day. He holds the gaze up and over his shoulder with no nerves at all. It’s total calm. His heart beats slow and deep—a tempo like confidence, like trust.

“That’s right, that’s perfect,” the photographer praises. “Don’t look at the camera, just look at each other.”

As if Jaemin would ever look away. He doesn’t need Jeno to be smiling to know he’s just as happy and calm. His warm eyes say everything. Jeno’s eyes, the only place Jaemin’s ever seen himself clearly, framed by delicate lashes and quiet understanding.

 _It’s just us, love._ They say to him. _It’s just us and forever._

~

 

“So when are you gonna—“ Doyoung mimes something, fingers pinched as his hands make a looping motion.

Jaemin blinks. “When will I… take up knitting?”

From beside him, Jaehyun snorts into his red plastic cup, gracefully managing to take his sip and smile pleasantly while reaching over the table of snacks for another pretzel bite. Doyoung sighs impatiently.

“No, dumbass,” he says, “when will you, y’know, tie the proverbial knot? Seal the deal? Lock that down?” He inclines his head toward the large leather sofa where a number of their other coworkers and assorted significant others are absorbed in watching the game, paying little heed to the conversation behind them.

Jaemin glances that way, then back and down at the beer bottle in his hands, cold condensation wet under his fingertips. “Soon, hopefully.”

Doyoung seems relieved. “Good. And I want an invite.” He makes Jaemin pinky swear before taking a handful of chex mix in a napkin and turning to go find someone else to hound about their personal life. Probably Taeyong. Out of everyone in the office, he seems to get the brunt of Doyoung’s well-intended busy-bodying, along with Jaemin. Probably related to knowing them more closely outside of work, Jaemin assumes.

“Not sure if I’m disappointed or relieved…”

“Huh?”

Nearly having forgotten him, Jaemin turns to Jaehyun and finds him smiling the same pleasant, dimpled smile he’s seen every day since the older man walked into their office four months prior. Pleasant, somewhat unreadable, almost intimidating yet still welcoming. Just like the man wearing it.

Jaehyun crosses his arm, his other elbow propping against it and his drink held low. “Didn’t realize you were in a relationship.”

“Oh.” Jaemin thinks of the frame on his desk, the matching denim shirts in the photo, the locked gaze. “I guess I didn’t mention it? Pretty much everyone knows, I guess I forgot you’re new.”

“Yeah, it happens. Just glad I heard before I went and made a fool of myself trying to ask you out.”

“What?”

“I think pretty much everyone knows that, too. Doyoung did that on purpose.”

Jaemin hardly has time to contemplate this new information before a hand slides over his shoulder, quickly replaced by a chin. The hand slips down over his arm and hovers around his elbow.

“Were you coming back with snacks anytime soon?” asks Jeno, right below his ear, and Jaemin doesn’t need to look to know he’s smiling with crescent eyes.

“Sorry, got distracted, but I was about to!” Jaemin holds his laden plate up, turning to see Jeno clearly as he steals a chip from it and pops it in his mouth.

“You guys do look good together, Doyoung is right.”

Jeno quirks a questioning look at the other man, the non sequitur statement passing him by.

“Babe, this is Jaehyun, he joined the firm a few months ago.”

Jaehyun holds out a hand. “Pleasure to meet you…?”

The returned smile is nothing but sunny. “Jeno,” he replies and takes the hand, remaining close behind Jaemin all the while, “other half to this one. Nice meeting you, too.”

Jaemin watches their hands, and thinks of the paycheck he’s waiting on, and thinks of ¾ carats set in engraved platinum, and thinks of other ways he’d like to introduce Jeno.

Soon, hopefully.

~

 

The camera clicks away as Jeno adjusts his shoulders against the white flooring of the studio, getting comfortable as his head rests on Jaemin’s lap. Ignoring the bit of styling gel, Jaemin combs his fingers through the chocolate-brown locks that fan over his thigh. He scratches lightly at Jeno’s scalp, grimacing when his nails come away with grit beneath them.

“You’ve still got sand in your hair,” he mutters.

He can feel the low rumble of Jeno’s chuckle.

“I know, I can’t get it all out.”

Jeno turns his head to look up at him, eyes glinting as he raises his eyebrows. Jaemin rolls his eyes in return, but feels a tingle of affection run through his chest.

“You could’ve just asked.”

~

 

The smell of barbecue and alcohol follows Jaemin all the way home and into the apartment. He drops his bag on the bench by the door and shoulders his jacket off, leaving it where it drops and trudging towards the warm light coming from the bedroom. Everything else is dark, and everything else is unimportant.

Jeno’s glasses perch low on his nose, mirror images from his computer screen reflected on them as he flips through a series of photos. Jaemin makes out two rusted-looking sculpture pieces before he drops unceremoniously onto the bed next to his boyfriend.

“So Taeyong won his case, huh?”

Jaemin nods against the pillow. He’s too tired and tipsy to provide verbal responses, or even take off his socks and get under the blankets. He just curls against Jeno, hiding his face in his side and breathing in a scent other than grilled pork and garlic.

Faint clicks continue to sound from Jeno’s keyboard as Jaemin begins to drift off.

“What are your thoughts on Aruba?” Jeno asks suddenly.

Jaemin doesn’t have any thoughts. On anything. Nothing except the smell of fresh linen and the steady up-down of Jeno’s breathing.

“Jaemin?”

“Mm yeah?”

“Aruba?”

Jaemin scrounges for an opinion inside his drained-out brain. “Sounds festive.”

The breathing pattern stutters around Jeno’s amused giggle.

“What should I like about it?” Jaemin asks, after a long minute.

“Warm, tropical, sunny. Something different. There’s not a lot of crowds, and it’s supposed to be welcoming from a community standpoint. Also beaches.”

All Jaemin hears are things Jeno likes, which suits him fine too. But he knows Jeno wants to hear his honest, if exhausted, opinion.

“Sounds nice, babe. You know all beaches are the same to me.”

“All beaches? Really?”

Jaemin noses against the cotton of Jeno’s shirt at his ribs, humming. “Yeah, they’re just sand and water. Haven’t looked much at any beach since the one where my grandparents have their summer house, when you said you’d be with me.” He yawns. “I just look at you now.”

With a soft pat the LED light from the laptop disappears, and Jaemin hears when Jeno puts it aside on the bedside table. His boyfriend shifts his arms and tilts Jaemin’s chin up, encouraging him to open his eyes even if the room is mostly dark now. The little he can see is beautiful.

Jeno bends down and kisses him.

“So, Aruba?” Jaemin asks sleepily as they part.

Scooting down to lay parallel, Jeno sighs. He draws Jaemin’s arm over his waist.

“Maybe.”

In the morning Jaemin feels half dead and the eggs taste like cardboard on his tongue, but Jeno is smiling like he’s just secured a Rembrandt for the gallery and been told he can keep it a few extra months.

He’s in the hall pulling on his shoes when he calls back to Jaemin at the breakfast table, “Text me what paid holidays you get this year when you get to the office, okay?”

Jaemin barely remembers what month it is, so he grabs the pen lying in the light clutter on the table and scribbles ‘holidays’ on the inside of his wrist as a reminder.

“Okay!”

He almost jumps when Jeno is suddenly behind him, leaning down to plant a kiss on his temple. “Thanks. Now hurry up, or you’ll lose paralegal of the month to Renjun again for being late.”

Jaemin groans, then asks, “If I win this month will you hang the plaque up in the gallery?”

He looks over his shoulder in time to see Jeno make a face.

“Of course not. I’ll hang it over my desk though. Now if you pass boards and get _that_ certificate…”

“Now who’s gonna be late?”

Jeno hurries for the door. “Love you! Bye!”

~

 

The silk of his sleeves feels cool and soft, sliding effortlessly under the lightly patterned grey of his suit. Jaemin resettles his arms around Jeno’s waist and stares over his shoulder at their entwined limbs.

“We’re gonna wear black, not these, right?” He asks.

Jeno tugs at a cufflink. “I’ll wear black. I think you should wear white, though.”

Jaemin lets out an indignant scoff. “What, like some virgin bride? I don’t think I’m gonna convince anyone of that.”

“I just like how you look in white. It makes you glow.”

There’s nothing Jaemin can say to that, not when Jeno puts it so bluntly and sincerely. He feels a blush creep into his cheeks, just like the first time Jeno complimented him. He doesn’t think that’ll ever stop happening.

“Can you guys talk a little less?” the photographer asks, voice somewhere between pained and amused. “You’re cute and all but these will come out a lot better if you’re not flushed all red.”

Jeno turns his head and laughs to see the color in Jaemin’s cheeks, which only makes it worse.

“Sorry, Johnny,” Jaemin mutters.

~

 

It’s not that Jaemin needs or requires labels, it’s that he doesn’t like uncertainty. It’s the same quest for clear terminology and definition that eventually leads him through a pre-law degree, and down to the end of a dock over gently lapping waves just before sunset.

Jeno’s eyes gleam in the tangerine light.

“What are you so nervous for?” he asks. “Your whole family knows me already.”

“Yeah, as my best friend,” Jaemin says, tugging his flannel a little tighter against the cool breeze drifting over the lake.

“You did make me sign a contract.”

Jaemin grins. His mom still has the notebook page with his nine-year-old messy handwriting and Jeno’s slow, meticulous signature agreeing to ‘legally binding’ best friendship. She says it’s proof Jaemin was always going to follow her into the legal field. Jaemin thinks it’s proof he was always going to do whatever it took to keep Jeno beside him.

“I didn’t _make_ you, you could have said no.”

“When have I ever said no?”

The smile Jeno wears makes the sunset behind them seem bland, and Jaemin swallows anxiously. He takes Jeno’s hand.

“You could now, I guess,” he says hesitantly, “but I hope you won’t. But since we’re about to go inside and everyone will start asking, I wanted to know first, if I can tell them you’re my boyfriend. We haven’t been going on dates for very long, I know, but it’s what I want and if you want that too—”

“Yeah.”

Jaemin glances up when Jeno cuts him off. “Really? You do?”

The peaceful waves make a cozy backdrop as Jeno takes Jaemin’s other hand and brings it to his lips, kissing the palm softly. “Positive.”

Although he’d like to extend the moment, Jaemin can see his mom’s silhouette in the window of the house up past the lawn, and knows he’ll have to save his bubbling-ly giddy emotions for later. He squeezes Jeno’s hand instead, and guides them both back towards the shore.

“Honestly, I’m a little surprised you didn’t bring me a contract this time, too,” his _boyfriend_ jokes as they walk up through the grass.

Jaemin would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered it.

~

 

Following Johnny’s instructions, Jeno props his head against his fist and leans toward Jaemin. His profile is a collection of strong lines and subtle, sweet curves, and Jaemin remembers the first time he stared at it and thought the same.

“Remember when our moms made us do that photo shoot when we were sixteen?” he asks, speaking quickly so as not to ruin the shot.

Jeno nods almost imperceptibly. “Uh-huh. The only kids in school that had professional best friendship photos taken.”

“Until Chenle and Jisung did it too.”

“Oh right! I forgot they did that.”

“Chenle’s mom; the only more extra parent than ours.”

Jeno chuckles. “At least his mom didn’t try to bring Jisung’s a betrothal agreement with traditional language from like a hundred years ago.”

“Hey, that language is still valid,” Jaemin grins and bumps his shoulder. “What kind of lawyer would my mom have been if she wasn’t thinking ahead?”

They both laugh, and after a moment there’s a pause in the camera flashing.

“Two minute break, guys, I need to switch lenses,” Johnny tells them with a wink.

As he reaches for his camera bag, Jeno lets his head drop onto Jaemin’s shoulder, where the weight feels familiar.

“Guess it wasn’t necessary, after all.”

“Guess not.”

~

 

Jaemin holds the phone close to his ear and squints at his computer screen, trying to listen and read through the small print at the same time.

_“Everyone is going to be so excited, Jaeminie!”_

He shakes his head, saying, “Grandma you can’t tell anyone yet, okay?”

_“But honey, what about your grandfather? He’ll notice it’s missing.”_

The screen scrolls down under Jaemin’s fingertips and he clicks on another link, skimming over the details.

“Just tell him it’s being cleaned maybe?”

He can hear his grandmother huff over the line.

_“I just had it cleaned a month ago. I don’t want to lie to him, that’s not how good marriages work, dear. You’ll need to learn that yourself.”_

At the admonishment Jaemin pauses, closing his eyes and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He does know that. He’s just nervous.

“Okay, you’re right. Just swear him to secrecy too, if he asks. Now, if you use rush expedited delivery, it should get here in two days or less, so just double check with them when you take it to ship.”

 _“Won’t you be around to visit soon? I could just give it to you, then,”_ she questions. Jaemin doesn’t think he can plan to visit before he needs the ring, nor does he recall mentioning a plan to. But of course, she’s just hoping to see him.

“It’ll need resizing,” he says instead, equally true. “So the rush expedited should be best…”

As his grandmother agrees and mumbles about writing that down, Jaemin hears the telltale chirp of the apartment keypad and the click of the door. He hastily shuts his laptop as Jeno pads into the room moments later.

“Alright, yes, I’ll talk to you soon, yes…I know, thanks. Love you, too.”

Jeno leans over the back of the high stool Jaemin’s sitting on at the breakfast bar and wraps his arms around Jaemin’s waist. Jaemin hopes he can’t entirely feel how fast his heart is beating as he ends the call.

“Who was that?” he asks, breathing into the short hair at Jaemin’s nape.

“Grandma.”

Straightening and coming around to the side of Jaemin, Jeno gives him an odd look. Almost...suspicious.

He chews his lip a little, and asks, “Did she mention me?”

Jaemin puts on his most reassuring smile. “Of course, I think she wants us to visit soon.”

“Hmm.”

If he had to name it, Jaemin would say Jeno looks unexpectedly worried, glancing at Jaemin and then glancing away.

He reaches a hand to squeeze lightly at the side of Jeno’s neck. “Don’t worry,” he soothes, “I didn’t commit us to anything. I know you have stuff going on with the show coming up at the gallery.”

Jeno seems to relax. “Would you want to visit soon, though?”

“Yeah, I mean, of course. You know I love the lake, almost as much as I like how you blush when my grandparents smother you, especially when Grandad asks you again what it is exactly you do, son, something with famous pictures right?” Jaemin drops his voice into a lower register, mimicking the elder man’s gruff tone.

“Okay, okay I got it.” Jeno rolls his eyes and presses forward to hug Jaemin, sliding in between the bar and his chair to sigh out into the embrace. “Did you eat yet?”

“No, waited for you. Want takeout?”

“I’m sure as hell not cooking.”

That’s true any night, Jaemin thinks as he tucks his head against Jeno’s collar and smooches his neck. But he’ll gladly have someone deliver them food if it means he doesn’t have to let go.

~

 

“Did you still want to do an outfit change?” Jaemin asks, crooking an arm around Jeno’s neck and drawing him in as Johnny changes angles again.

Jeno nods. “Have to. Ten made me promise to wear the beret he gave me as an engagement gift when he dropped off his latest acrylic piece.”

“I thought artists wore those, not curators.”

“Tell that to Ten.”

“Nah.”

They pause for a quick costume change, and when Jaemin returns to the studio floor from the small dressing room he can’t help an appreciative whistle. Along with the trendy sky-blue button-down, the black beret holding back some of Jeno’s hair makes him look like one of the classical style sculptures he hosts.

“I take it back, I need to thank Ten.”

Jeno shoots him a quizzical look. “What for?”

“Letting me call a piece of his art mine? I’m sure he knew how you’d look in that.”

“...did you just imply Ten made me?”

“Uh. No. I called you art.”

“His art.”

“Okay, let me rephrase—” but Jaemin catches the hint of smirk on Jeno’s lips, and sighs in exasperation to realize he’s teasing. He pulls the fabric of his high-necked black turtleneck over his chin and pouts as he joins Jeno in front of the lights again.

Jeno bites his lip to hold down his smile, sliding an arm around Jaemin’s waist.

“Maybe you should wear black after all,” he says as the camera flashes, his eyes roaming over the fit of Jaemin’s shirt before meeting Jaemin’s gaze again.

“I don’t know, maybe we should have Ten choose our styl—ow! No pinching!”

~

 

Planning things that are supposed to be a surprise, Jaemin finds, can be a very frustrating endeavor. For instance, there’s getting a good reservation booked at the right kind of restaurant. And the trick of making sure nothing conflicts in either person’s schedule for that specific day, when both have jobs that change their calendars on a moment’s notice. Not to mention trying to coordinate a friend with decent camera skills to be available—for some reason Chenle seems to be traveling every single weekend Jaemin asks about. It’s a painstaking process.

But it would be a lot easier if his significant other would give him a single straightforward answer about… _anything_.

“Would you rather get really good Pad Thai, or try that new steakhouse?”

Jeno shrugs. “You know I like anything.”

This does not decide venues for Jaemin. How can he plan the perfect dinner when Jeno doesn’t have a food preference?

But that seems to be the least of his struggles.

“We’re both free the night of the eleventh, right?” Jaemin asks another day, staring at the calendar pinned to the fridge.

“That’s not updated,” Jeno reminds him.

“But there’s nothing happening at the gallery?”

“I’ll have to check tomorrow.”

Jaemin frowns. Jeno normally has the gallery show schedule lasered into his brain. “Okay, let me know,” he says anyway.

And he does let him know...sort of. What Jaemin gets is “that night is busy,” and, when he tries for another date, “no, I think we might have something. Can’t remember,” and when he tries _again_ it’s “last minute private showing event! Sorry, love.”

The weird evasiveness pushes Jaemin’s plans a full week past their upcoming vacation, which he’d hoped to spend celebrating. In retaliation he silently fumes for a solid two days. Jeno doesn’t appear to notice, as he seems too busy cutting his phone calls short whenever Jaemin walks in the room, and constantly running off on “errands”.

“Are we like, camping in Aruba or something?” Jaemin finally asks over a tensely quiet dinner.

Jeno looks surprised. “Aruba? What?... oh, no, of course not. We’ll have a bedroom, I mean hotel, obviously.”

“Then what do you keep running errands for?”

“Nothing. Just normal stuff.”

His tone is believable enough, but Jeno’s eyes don’t meet Jaemin’s. He just inspects his pasta before taking a rather large but careful bite.

Jaemin sighs. He doesn’t want to fight, he wants to plan a damn engagement. It shouldn’t be this difficult. Maybe Jeno will be more accommodating if he drops a few hints, gives him something to be excited for…

He’s careful about it, still, making sure not to give _too_ much away. But the DVD of _The Proposal_ he leaves intentionally in the XBox ends up back on the shelf with no mention, and the entertainment news magazine he buys advertising _Top Ten Best Celebrity Engagement Stories!: Yes, Minho Choi Did That!_ finds its way to the bottom of the pile on the coffee table, invisible below all Jeno’s monthly copies of _American Art Collector_ that he specially orders.

“Did you know Ten filled an entire dancehall with lilies when he proposed to Winwin?” Jaemin casually asks later that week, as Jeno takes his towel down from the hook on the bathroom door.

“No,” Jeno shakes his head, eyes wide and innocent as he looks back to the bed where Jaemin still sits. “I had no idea! Wow.”

Jaemin smiles and makes sure to wait until Jeno has started brushing his teeth before speaking again.

“What’s your favorite flower again, babe?”

As Jeno aggressively coughs out toothpaste Jaemin scrambles to make sure he’s alright, but Jeno just picks his towel up from the counter and waves him off with a rasped out excuse of going to shower. He shuts the door soundly, and Jaemin sits back on the edge of the bed. He drags a hand down the side of his face, groaning.

His plan isn’t working at all. And anyway he knows Jeno likes daisies best. What he doesn’t know is whether he’s as sure they have the same vision of their future anymore, or if something changed when he wasn’t paying attention.

~

 

Jaemin picks up Jeno’s left hand, admiring as the bright lights glint off his ring finger.

“I can’t get over how perfect it looks.”

“Me either.”

~

 

Being completely honest, Jaemin feels nervous heading to the airport. They barely speak as the cab carries them toward their vacation, Jeno mostly scrolling through his phone and texting instructions to Ten while Jaemin stares out the window. He doesn’t think it’s fair that Jeno already took his phone away, banning him from doing any work. If Renjun can cover his responsibilities while he’s away, Jeno should have to apply the same to Ten watching the gallery.

“It’s different,” Jeno had only said as he tucked Jaemin’s phone in his own pocket.

He seems intent on forcing Jaemin to relax, making him sit to the side while he checks them both in and hands over their luggage to the airline. It’s not like Jaemin would feel particularly burdened by doing that with him, so he doesn’t really get it. He just watches the suitcases ride away on the conveyor belt, and presses a hand to his pocket for the millionth time.

The ring box is still there, still with him rather than in luggage where it might get lost. Jaemin exhales slowly. He’s had it with him at all times the past week, too anxious about it’s safety once it came back from being resized. He brings his hand back to his lap as Jeno approaches.

“Ready? We should get to security before the line gets any longer.”

Jaemin gives Jeno a small smile in response and obediently follows. The security process is pretty mindless; remove belt, remove shoes, bag on the conveyor. Jeno slides effortlessly through the body scanner, and Jaemin follows.

He’s immediately halted by a loud beeping, and the security agent beckons him back.

“Anything you missed in your pockets, sir?”

Jaemin nearly scoffs at the ridiculous question, as a legal professional he’s very thorough of course, until his hand passes over the slim square box sitting cozily in the pocket of his jeans. His eyes shoot up to Jeno and he swallows, feeling suddenly faint. The perplexed look Jeno gives him as he comes back to help only adds to his struggle.

“Sir, please remove any remaining items from your person,” the agent instructs.

Jeno is right there. There’s absolutely nothing to shield Jaemin, absolutely no way he can hide. This is not what he wanted, but there’s no way Jeno won’t see what he’s carrying and have questions.

It leaves him just one option.

Jaemin drops to a knee.

The agent looks pained. “Sir—”

“Please just, one minute,” begs Jaemin.

Jeno looks at him like he’s grown a third ear in the center of his face. “Jaemin, what the hell are you doing?” he whispers harshly.

“Well I definitely didn’t plan on this happening but none of my other plans were exactly coming up roses either so,” he digs the box out of his pocket and flips the lid open before he can think it through any further, his heart racing. “Jeno Lee. Will you marry me?”

All noise in the line ceases. The security agent groans.

Jeno looks...blank. And then extremely red. And then _pissed._

As Jaemin opens his mouth again to beg for...well, anything, he’s left hanging as Jeno promptly turns on his heel and walks off, only pausing to grab his items from the end of the belt. Jaemin is frozen.

“Yikes, man.”

Jaemin slowly gets to his feet and replaces the ring box in his pocket. He raises his eyes to the agent, who looks the embodiment of pity, and glances at the man’s name badge.

“Pray for me, uh, Mark?”

The agent nods. “You better hurry, he looked super mad.”

His second attempt at security is blessedly successful—although he can totally hear the agent not-subtly whisper to the other TSA agent on the floor, “Hyuck, did you _see_ that? Dude. Bad.” and the responding snicker of agreement—and Jaemin only recombobulates himself the bare minimum before chasing after Jeno. He finds him not too far, sitting at what Jaemin assumes is their gate after only an extremely cursory glance, and with the tensest jaw Jaemin’s ever seen.

Jaemin stands in front of him, feeling helpless.

“Jeno, I—”

“Please don’t say anything right now.”

“How can I not say anything? How could _you_ not say anything? Jeno it’s been five years, you can’t have not seen this coming!”

“Jaemin, I’m serious, I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“Jeno—”

The look Jeno shoots him feels like a skewer through his chest, and Jaemin snaps his mouth shut. He doesn’t know why what he’s just done is wrong, but it’s very, _very_ wrong. So he gives up, letting his head drop and staring at the floor. His shoelaces aren’t even done up, he rushed so fast to find his apparently not-fiancé.

Dejected, he bends down to at least tie _that_ knot.

“Oh my god, Jaemin, you can’t be _serious_ ,” exclaims Jeno, practically jumping from his seat.

Jaemin looks up in shock and only just realizes what his position looks like.

“Jeno no! I’m tying my shoe! Jeno!”

He ignores Jaemin’s pleas and sits in a different row to wait. By the time the plane starts boarding he hasn’t glanced at Jaemin once, and Jaemin’s lip tastes of iron from how much he’s nervously chewed it. He shivers as he gingerly slides into the seat next to Jeno on the plane, being extra careful not to bump his arm as he secures his seatbelt.

“I’m—”

Jeno puts in his airpods.

“Okay.”

As the plane takes off, Jaemin prepares himself for a very long, very uncomfortable flight, and even worse vacation.

~

 

“Should we take some with that horrible cliche pose showing off the ring? You know the one.”

“I think we have to, legally.”

“You would know.”

~

 

When Jaemin wakes up, the plane is landing. He blinks in confusion, rubbing one eye and checking his watch, and confirms that not nearly enough time has passed.

“What’s happening?” He turns to Jeno to ask, and is met with nothing, as Jeno stares out the window resolutely, airpods still in.

Jaemin sighs. He stops a passing flight attendant instead.

“Oh yes, we’ve arrived. We’ll be at the gate in just a few minutes,” she clarifies with a curt smile.

Jaemin considers whether his watch stopped, or if the distance to Aruba might be significantly less than he imagined. By the time he walks into the gate, a silent Jeno just behind him, he determines neither to be true.

This is an airport he’s familiar with. This is the airport nearest his grandparents’ lake home.

“Surprise,” Jeno says dryly, then in a dissonant movement takes Jaemin’s hand.

Jaemin just stares at the back of his head in shock as his boyfriend pulls him toward baggage claim and ground transportation. There’s no further explanation offered, and Jaemin is too baffled to push for more, so he simply follows the process of claiming the bags and hailing a rideshare.

He doesn’t have to guess where they’re going. By the time they pull up to the lake house, Jeno no longer looking mad but simply placid instead, Jaemin has accepted that he’s been oblivious of _something_ for a good while. They climb out of the car and Jeno stops him from taking the bags inside, pulling him around the side of the house and down to the lake.

As they walk out onto the dock, their footsteps drawing creaks from the slowly aging wood, Jaemin wants to hit himself. If he’d just been smart enough to leave the ring in his bag, he could be proposing now, at sunset in his favorite place in the world, at the same spot he first asked Jeno to be his. If he just hadn’t ruined it like an actual certified idiot. Jeno had gone and surprised him, even, setting everything up to give Jaemin the perfect opening, and he’d ruined it.

Jaemin sighs, accepting his own stupidity, and walks to the end of the dock to lean tiredly against the railing even when Jeno stops a few paces behind. With the sparkling lake reflecting all the pink and orange hues of sunset, he can’t help but try to fix things again.

“I don’t know if you’ll let me apologize yet, but I am sorry I fucked up,” he starts.

“Jaemin.”

“That was a bad way to do it, I know. I panicked.”

He hears Jeno sigh.

“Jaemin, please—”

Jaemin ducks his head. “Okay, you don’t want to talk about it still, I get it. That’s fine. I just...hope you can give me another chance at some point. When you’re ready.”

“For godsake Jaemin would you turn around already?”

The sharp tone startles him, but it’s not half as startling as turning to find Jeno on one knee, small blue box in hand and shiny, polished engagement band blinking up at him.

His hands start shaking. “What’s happening.”

Jeno takes a breath and briefly closes his eyes, like this is taxing him, and then opens them again.

He says, “Did you think you were the only one who could propose?”

Yes. Yes he did. Not for any good reason at all, but yes. Jaemin had not once considered it going the other way round, and he suddenly gasps.

“Oh my god,” he breathes, “you’ve been planning this…”

“For fucking ever and you have tried to ruin it so many times, Jaemin Na, I almost gave up the whole idea.”

“We were never going to Aruba.”

“No, that was my first idea, until you brought this place up.”

Jaemin stares down at him, heart pounding, and imagines himself as Jeno over the past few months, desperately trying to evade Jaemin’s own tactics while still planning the ideal proposal. His heart caves in a little.

“I’m so sorry.”

Jeno sighs, but he’s softened. “That’s nice, Jaem, but my knee is starting to hurt so would you shut up while I do this?”

“Oh. Yeah. Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

Shaking his arm out for a second and then adjusting his hold on the box, Jeno clears his throat before continuing.

“Jaemin, we’ve pretty much been together since we were like six, and I’ve never wanted anyone else standing next to me. I was shy and quiet and you were a firework, and when you asked me to be your best friend, more officially than any other nine year old would, I’d never been happier.”

Tears begin to prick at the corners of Jaemin’s eyes. He swipes at them hastily as Jeno goes on.

“That was the happiest moment of my life until the first time you asked me on a real date, with a bouquet of daisies and everything. I’d been trying to work up how to change things between us, and you went ahead and did it first. Then that moment got replaced when you stood where you’re standing now, and asked me to be your boyfriend, officially. You kind of have a habit of doing that, asking the big questions. You were even the one to ask if I would move in with you—”

“I like certainty.”

“—I know. Don’t interrupt me.”

“Sorry.”

Jeno shifts on his knee, but holds Jaemin’s gaze with all the determination of an astronaut dead-set on a Moon landing.

“I love that you’ve always been confident about us, for us. For me. But I wanted to be the one to ask this, because you’ve gotten all the others. And also, because I love you, a lot, an embarrassing amount, and I’d make my entire art gallery just pictures of you if I wouldn’t get fired immediately after. So. Jaemin Na. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

Jaemin’s voice breaks the first time he tries to say yes, and he’s only halfway through saying it properly when Jeno sweeps up from his knee and pulls him into a kiss, all the tension from the day completely melted away. He holds Jaemin’s face in his hands and kisses with such conviction Jaemin feels like they’ve skipped directly to the wedding, until Jeno finally pulls back and laughs, his crescent eyes smiling brightly.

“Wow,” Jaemin nearly gushes as he looks at the ring, admiring the sleek slate grey band. On the inside are a delicately engraved _J &J _with the current date. “That is sexy.”

“Yeah I know, I have great taste. That’s why they pay me. Can I put it on your hand now?”

“Oh yeah!”

The band is cool as Jeno slides it onto his finger, and it fits perfectly. Jaemin’s still admiring it when Jeno clears his throat.

“Don’t you have something for me, too? Or did I misread that whole disaster at the TSA checkpoint?”

A guilty blush fills Jaemin’s face, but he fishes the box from his pocket and opens it for his fiancé. The diamonds on the ring sparkle in the last rays of sunlight, and Jeno’s eyes widen.

“That’s your Grandma’s…” he notes breathlessly.

“It was, yeah. It’s yours now.”

Jaemin prays he got the size correct as he wiggles the ring onto Jeno’s finger, and exhales in relief when it fits. Jeno stares at it for a moment, then tugs Jaemin into another kiss. With the sound of the waves and Jeno sliding his cool fingers into Jaemin’s hair, Jaemin can’t imagine a more perfect proposal than this. None of his plans even come close. He does bemoan one element, though.

“Huge shame this wasn’t filmed, though,” he pouts as they make their way back up the dock.

Jeno chuckles. “Says who?”

As they step back onto the grass, Jaemin notices someone stepping out from the trees off to the side, and nearly explodes with laughter to see Chenle grinning with a camera in hand.

“It was so awkward telling you I was busy like fifty times, Jaemin,” the younger man laughs.

“I’m so fucking stupid.”

Jeno squeezes his hand. “No, just kinda oblivious. It’s cute.”

Inside the house, Jaemin’s grandparents reveal a cake and gush for almost two hours before finally informing Jaemin that they’re leaving shortly, dropping Chenle off at the airport and taking a short vacation of their own.

“The house is yours for the long weekend,” his grandma says, then warns, “but it better be in mint condition when we get back.”

Jaemin nods solemnly, and tries not to correlate the owners of the house with how he’d like to celebrate with Jeno later in the guest room.

Once everyone has left, the two settle into one of the cozy loveseats on the wide back porch, wrapped in a blanket against the barest hint of late spring breeze that tries to chill whatever it can reach. Even in the dark, the lake still sparkles as it reflects both moon and star light.

Jaemin tilts his head and presses a kiss to the corner of Jeno’s lips. “This was perfect. You’re perfect.”

“So perfect even you couldn’t ruin it.”

Groaning, Jaemin leans his head back against the loveseat. “Can we please not include that part in the proposal story?”

Jeno toys with the band on Jaemin’s finger and giggles devilishly.

“No way. I’m telling everyone.”

“Awesome. Thanks.” Jaemin can’t help but laugh too, though, and when that eventually dissolves into languid kisses he isn’t mad at all. He just breaks away eventually to pull Jeno inside the house, being careful to lock the porch door before pulling Jeno into the guest room and back into his arms.

They spend the weekend blissfully, even braving a swim, which just ends up with a prolonged session making out on the beach and an excess of sand in Jeno’s hair.

~

 

“Huh. I did kinda wonder why you both have rings,” Johnny muses as he arranges their hands to show both pieces equally. “It’s a hell of a story.”

“It’s not bad,” agrees Jaemin.

He loves looking at their rings, unconventional as they are. He loves that Jeno’s great-Grandfather’s band is sleek and bold, a classy accessory that reminds Jaemin of Jeno every time he looks at it. And Jeno tells him he feels the same, that the intricate and mildly ostentatious engagement ring from Jaemin’s grandmother seems to represent Jaemin each time its sparkles catch his eye. Nothing could fit them more.

Johnny snaps a few more photos, then sets his camera down.

“We’re all done!” he announces with a bright grin. “I’ll email you the final edits in a couple of weeks.”

“Looking forward to it,” says Jeno.

“And thank you,” Jaemin adds.

Johnny waves a hand. “No problem, friends of Doyoung’s are friends of mine. But, that doesn’t mean you get the discount. Sorry. Let me know if you need a photographer for the wedding, though! Or the honeymoon, that’s a thing I’ve been hearing about recently.”

“Huh. Interesting concept.”

“Might not be your thing,” Johnny comments lightly, shrugging as he packs his equipment. “Any idea where you’ll go?”

It takes only a beat before Jeno turns to Jaemin with a wide grin, and Jaemin can’t help but laugh.

He says, “What are your thoughts on Aruba?”  


 

**Author's Note:**

> TT i also wanna go to Aruba...
> 
> idea started here: thread  
> clothing/pics that inspired this: [here](https://twitter.com/14jjal/status/1103477318251536384?s=21) and [here](https://youtu.be/Sxt_JvQ0e9I) and [here](https://twitter.com/imjaebabie/status/1103457893305720842?s=21)
> 
> Jaemin’s ring(previously Jeno’s great-grandfather’s, refurbished): [ring 1](https://www.zales.com/triton-mens-80mm-diamond-accent-comfort-fit-black-tungsten-wedding-band/p/V-18558601)
> 
> Jenos ring(previously Jaemin’s Grandma’s): [ring 2](https://www.brilliantearth.com/Hudson-Ring-Platinum-BE132-1152722/?did=5977748&is_tab=1)
> 
> i wrote this entirely on n posted it from my phone so if anything doesn’t make sense feel free to ask me at [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ImJaeBabie)   
> or say hi on twitter @imjaebabie


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